prscustom-
But I can tell you that what I'm hearing now in the spatial placement/resolution/detail makes it very worthwhile to work these things out.And don't worry one bit about what others say of your being negative and dismissive of the 'greatest new thing'.That's what these boards are for.

Hallelujah!! I've seen this going on in other threads, the SA6 thread in particular. When one poster dared to point out they sounded harsh to HIS ears, he was immediately trashed quite aggressively by someone else, just because he was the first one to say they sounded harsh! There's just no reason for that. And I really appreciate hearing the various experiences people are having, regardless of whether anyone else has heard the same thing. It helps me to gather as much information as possible.

prscustom: I had the E500 twice, and sold it both times. The sound signature wasn't for me, so it's possible you just prefer the E500. But I would suggest you listen to nothing else but the W3 for a while - and THEN go back to the Shures. I know it's quite popular to go back and forth between earphones to test certain songs, but I only do that after I've listened exclusively to the new pair for a while. I like to get used to the new sound signature first. Give the W3 more time, then go back... and see what you think

i guess w3 tried to get a perfect frequency response (straight line) to produce every sound in music like a real monitor, which is found only in very expensive hifi sets...but failed because of the lack of quality (drivers,filter whatever i dont know)

i can get similar sound with shure530 but nomatter how hard i try i cant make w3 sound good...because the problem is not lows,mids or highs.
with eq settings shure530 sounds like a quality version of w3, it gives you wow effect and keep the wow effect (unlike tf10)

sooo.....my w3 is nicely packed and ready for return...
sorry but nothing is better from shures so far...after hearing the amazing highs im also selling my tf10's (pm me if interested)....i dont care the hype or what others say or think

thanks for any help and comments

Hey- I'm glad you found the balance that sounds right to your ears. That's what this affliction is all about.... trying and trying stuff until you figure out what you like. If you don't mind me asking, what is the difference you're hearing between the W3, & the Shures, now that you have the Shures tweaked to where you're happy? I'm really curious.... Also, how long do you have to return them? If you have a month, which is common with trusted dealers, maybe you can spend a week or so with the W3 uninterrupted by the Shures... play around with the EQ, etc. I did that and managed to get that bass punch and warmth added into their sound.

Hey- I'm glad you found the balance that sounds right to your ears. That's what this affliction is all about.... trying and trying stuff until you figure out what you like. If you don't mind me asking, what is the difference you're hearing between the W3, & the Shures, now that you have the Shures tweaked to where you're happy? I'm really curious.... Also, how long do you have to return them? If you have a month, which is common with trusted dealers, maybe you can spend a week or so with the W3 uninterrupted by the Shures... play around with the EQ, etc. I did that and managed to get that bass punch and warmth added into their sound.

im also happy with shures without eq
i also tried to eq the w3..i can also add warmth or punch its not the problem

the main difference between shure and w3:

look, i actually even compared to a 15€ sony dynamic earbud...you know that "cheapy" sound, its not about the highs,mids or lows...the sound is just thin and cheap
w3 sounds like its filled with many cheap drivers, producing about everything what is recorded in a straight line with a 15€ earbud quality...and because its isolated, it just sounds somewhat better..
you really need to hear to understand what i mean..do you own both iems and can you compare atm?

i think people hear it and concentrate only on mids,highs etc..but forget the sound quality

yes i have 1 month time but i dont think i can wait that long..or maybe i give it to my brother

Guess this thread has run its course. prscustom intensely disliked the W3s the second he heard them, and still does. No reason to try and convince him otherwise, by listening to them any longer, trying different tips, etc. No one who disagreed with his very harsh assessment of the W3s said he didn't have a right to it, but why is it wrong to provide a counterpoint/argument? Not sure why the big rush to defend him in this case. He's a big boy, and didn't need to be patronized.

prscustom had a very strong opinion, no real room for anything in-between (he still describes the W3 drivers, or filters, as "cheap." How does he know that? He states it as fact.) and some people, including me, have strong opinions in the opposite direction. Seems to me that is true discourse. Sure, Head-Fi is for everyone to learn, post opinions, research, whatever. But in the case of this post, it was simply a harsh, one-sided attack on a piece of gear, nothing more. My first post recommended he send them back, and that's exactly what he is going to do it seems. For some reason, I knew he would never change his mind, based on the vitriol of his initial post. Turns out to be the case. Why all the hand-wringing?

It's really not about defending the latest and greatest. It's about being allowed to disagree with someone's opinion. That seems fair enough.

prscustom doesn't have to be wrong...as long as he's happy w/ what he's got, he's doing the right thing. Keeping them just because others think they're great is the wrong thing to do.

I just wanted to see if there were some obvious things that might be wrong (bad seal from the short tips than the SE530, bad source, etc.); I'm convinced he hasn't had any of these issues. And I appreciate that he's posted side-by-side pictures.

tstarn06-
I don't see the whole thread as pointless. Sure he's come back full circle to the realization that he really prefers the SE530, but he genuinely tried out the W3, and was open-minded to others' suggestions about auditioning them. At least that's how it seems to me, reading through this thread. Something's obvioulsy amiss in compatibility with them for him. If you remember, I had similar issues with the Custom 3. You heard them completely differently. But we traded PM's to discuss what we heard. I agree that some of his statements are quick and reactionary, but he's obviously not hearing the same thing we are. And, I'm not hearing bass the same way as most are. So, this is all helpful, even this thread, in helping people understand the W3. Even me.

Chris, I guess we can agree to disagree. I think he heavily favored the SE530s going in (which is fine, of course) and just because the WE3s sound different, he trashed them. He didn't make any worthwhile, useful comparisons (as others have done when comparing those two phones). He just started labeling the W3s as junk, crap, etc. He is still saying the same thing (in his final post on sending them back, he says they have cheap drivers/filters). To me, that's not really contributing anything to the debate/discussion, just creating hostility based on opinion presented as fact.

As you have seen on other W3 threads, there are several Head-Fi'ers who aren't totally sold on the W3s, and that's perfectly understandable. But none of them have said the Westones are trash, sound like cheap ear buds, etc. Of course, many others, including you and me, have a different view.

You are right. You didn't care for the Custom 3s and I found them to be a decent pair of IEMs (not great, but decent), but I don't recall you labeling them as junk, trash, etc.

No reason to beat this dead horse. prscustom is happy with the SE530. Good for him. Just no reason to completely trash the W3. My honest belief is either he got a bum pair or the W3 sound sig could never make him happy in the first place, for whatever reason.

Larry, I know you are just dead tired or me, but I'm giving this an honest chance. As I type this, I have my SE530s on and iTunes playing with the EQ set the exact same way you do here, and I have to say, I enjoy the way it sounds. My question is this: Besides levels of detail and actual sound quality (all of which I am assuming are in favor of the Westone 3), are there any other major differences in sound signature between the SE530 set with this EQ and the Westone 3 set flat (just so I can get an idea)?

(If you don't want to answer, which I would understand, I can look elsewhere.)

No reason to beat this dead horse. prscustom is happy with the SE530. Good for him. Just no reason to completely trash the W3. My honest belief is either he got a bum pair or the W3 sound sig could never make him happy in the first place, for whatever reason.

Quite right. I'm done beating this one. These kinds of discussions take the fun out of the hobby.... I'm going to listen.

Larry, I know you are just dead tired or me, but I'm giving this an honest chance. As I type this, I have my SE530s on and iTunes playing with the EQ set the exact same way you do here, and I have to say, I enjoy the way it sounds. My question is this: Besides levels of detail and actual sound quality (all of which I am assuming are in favor of the Westone 3), are there any other major differences in sound signature between the SE530 set with this EQ and the Westone 3 set flat (just so I can get an idea)?

(If you don't want to answer, which I would understand, I can look elsewhere.)

I can't compare the two directly because those are the SE530 EQ settings from back before I converted them into custom molded hard shell earphones (one shot custom, they don't want to do more, sorry). I don't recall the stock SE530 with EQ ever sounding as full bodied and solid as the W3 with EQ, but they were improved.

I had the SE530 customs tuned to have more treble and less bass, which they did with selecting the right sound tube diameter and length. With the SE530 now living in a custom shell, they do sound closer to the EQ (and very similar to my Livewires) but without quite as much bass as before, and even slightly less than my Livewires. So they still don't match the Westone 3 in some regards, like having the full bodied weight and presence of instruments that the W3 portray to me. However, the SE530 have a very good sense of ambience and space and soundstage, that once moved into custom dual sound-tube shells is even more like the W3 soundstage.